1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a solid body image sensor having charge coupled semiconductor charge shift elements with image elements arranged in the form of a matrix, and more particularly to such a sensor in which each of the image elements has a pair of electrode arrangements featuring a first and a second electrode arrangement and which are photosensitive, wherein the image elements form charge coupled shift registers in the form of rows and columns and in which the first electrode arrangement of the pairs of electrode arrangements is, in each case, connected to a first control line and the second electrode arrangement of the pairs of electrode arrangements is, in each case, connected to a second control line, wherein the two control lines of a row or column can, in each case, be connected by way of switches to drive lines, and wherein the switch can be driven by drive registers, and having output coupling devices for row-by-row and column-by-column output coupling of the device, and wherein the invention further relates to an operative process for such a sensor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the art to utilize shift registers with charge coupled charge shift elements (CCD elements) for image sensors, as disclosed in the German published application 2,107,110 which is equivalent to the British Pat. No. 1,340,617. In this arrangement, individual charge shift elements which are to be thought of as being combined in groups, form image elements which respond to electromagnetic radiation, in particular to optical radiation. These charge shift elements are organized into row-by-row shift registers and are constructed in a common substrate body, the substrate body covering the entire radiation-sensitive image surface. The electromagnetic radiation which enters the substrate body produces electric charges in the region of the charge shift elements, which charges are advanced in one direction from one element to the next adjacent element by timing pulses conventionally used for shift registers having charge shift elements. At the end of the shift register, the displaced charges are received by output coupling devices. The time sequence of the charge pulses received in the output coupling devices corresponds to the image brightness distribution of the row belonging to the relevant shift register. By arranging a plurality of rows one below another it is possible to form an image surface in which the image elements, consisting of charge shift elements, are arranged in matrix or raster form.
The term "charge-shift elements" is explained in, for example, the following publications: "Bell System Technical Journal", (1970), p. 587 ff; "Applied Physics Letters", Vol. 17, (1970), p 111 ff; and the German published application No. 2,201,150, and therefore a further definition of the term is not thought to be necessary herein. Other details, in particular regarding image sensors, can be obtained from the "Journal Vac. Sci. Technology", Vol. 9, (1972), p. 1166 ff. The last-mentioned publication, in particular on Page 1175 in FIG. 24, schematically describes an image sensor having charge shift elements organized in rows. The rows of charge shift elements arranged one above another are schematically illustrated: a drive device for 2-phase operation of the image sensor and an output coupling device, both shown only in a block circuit diagram, however. Details of a known device of this type are, however, also basically already known in the art.
In addition to the image sensor outlined in FIG. 24 of the above-mentioned publication, exhibiting row-by-row organization in row-by-row read-out in an output coupling device and in an output register, other image sensors are also known, e.g. from FIG. 23 of the publication which is an image organized image sensor frame transfer principle, in which entire image rows are output coupled at the same time, and it is also possible to provide an intermediate storage before the final analysis.